Wow. Time does seem to fly when you're planning a convention -- only two months left until FOGcon 7? How did that happen?

Aside from making travel arrangements, there's one last big thing we need from you members -- the programming signup. It's ready!

Go to db.fogcon.org, sign in (or, if you're new, sign up!) and go to Programming, and tell us what you want to see, and what you want to be on. This is how we know what gets you, the membership, the most excited, and what you, the members, have to share with the community.

You have just until the end of January to sign up, so please do ASAP – it warms the cockles of the Programming staff's hearts when we look at our "Interest" page in the database and see a new person's signed up, giving us an even better picture of what the program will look like for the next year.

Looking forward to seeing you all in (eep!) two months!

VOLUNTEERS

FOGcon Needs You! (Yes, you!)

We need help before and during the convention, managing or staffing registration, consuite, programming, logistics, and more. Even if you have only an hour or two to volunteer, you'll find the experience both fun and rewarding. It's a great way to meet

If you'd be interested in helping out, please e-mail volunteers@fogcon.org and let us know when you'd be available and what sort of thing you'd like to do, and we'll get back to you ASAP. We're also hoping that, at least for local volunteers, we may be able to have some sort of get-together ahead of time just to meet each other and have fun 🙂

Best way to reach me:
interested in: volunteer wrangling, programming
pre-con availability: by phone or e-mail, or in person with enough notice -- weekends or weekdays after 7 pm is best
at-con availability: tbd, fairly flexible. Expect to arrive late
Thursday/early Friday and be available until Sunday mid-afternoon. Not available during retrospective panel.

PROGRAMMING SIGNUPS ARE OPEN!

FOGcon folks have once again come through with a huge variety of high quality programming ideas -- and we thank you all!

Now it's time for programming sign-ups! This is for everyone, whether you want to be on a panel or just watch them -- here's how it works:

Go to "Program" in the Nav bar on the left side and choose "Sign Up for Programming"

You'll see three clickable links:

There are XX items

You have YY program items unmarked

Don't forget to update your availability to tell us what times you'll be available to participate in programming

Click on either of the first two links to go through the programming items and let us know what you're interested in!

Here's the thing that can be confusing: we want to know if you're interested in being *on* programming, and we *also* want to know if a given item is one you'd like to *see happen,* even if you don't want to be on it!

So for each item, you'll see the following options:

For being on the panel -- you can only choose one of these, and you don't have to choose any of them:

Please -- you very very much want to be on the panel

Interested -- you'd enjoy being on the panel, but if it conflicts with something you said "please" for, you'd rather be on that one

OK -- you're comfortable being or willing to be on the panel if that works out

Not Interested -- you'd prefer not to be on the panel. (This will also let us know that if we're trying to come up with panelists for this one, we should not put you on it even if we'd otherwise consider you a good fit.)

In addition to the list above, which is about being a panelist for that topic, you can also indicate either or both of the following:

I would like to moderate this panel

If you're willing to be a moderator for this panel, this is where you'd let us know that. Moderators are responsible for keeping the conversation moving, making sure everyone has a chance to talk, and managing audience involvement; moderators don't necessarily have to be experts in the topic themselves.

I would like to attend this panel

This is where you let us know which panels are most interesting to you! We depend on this information as we decide which panels to include in the schedule and which ones have to wait -- there are always far more possible panels than we have available room-and-time-slots. So even if you don't want to be *on* any of the panels at all -- please check this box for all the panels you're particularly interested in seeing!

Programming sign-ups will be open until the end of the day on February 3; you can edit your responses until sign-ups close, so you can start now and finish later if need be!

We're really excited about the programming items up for consideration, and we look forward to hearing from you!

WRITING WORKSHOP SIGNUPS ARE OPEN!

We'll be taking signups to the writing workshop (which will be held on March 12, Sunday afternoon) until January 31 or when all the spaces are taken, whichever is earlier. The manuscripts are due on Jan 31. Anyone who is signed up for FOGcon is can join the workshop. There's an admin fee of $20, payable by PayPal (we'll send you the Secret Link when we confirm your reservation). The link to the details is here: http://fogcon.org/attractions/writing-workshop/Hotel and Saturday Lunch Banquet

As we said in the last FOGhorn, FOGcons 7 and 8 will return to the Walnut Creek Marriott, which has been our home since 2012. Room rates are $109.00 per night, which includes free access to the hotel wireless. Book your reservation for FOGcon 7 at this link.

Parking will once again be free for convention members, whether hotel guests or not. The hotel has agreed to cancel the bar band for both Friday and Saturday nights of the convention, which should make the hotel restaurant and bar much more pleasant for all of us.

We will be reprising last year's successful lunchtime banquet, at the same price as last year: $15 for adults and $8 for children 10 and under). We subsidize the banquet because it helps us meet our commitment to the hotel, and because we love the opportunity to eat together. The menu will include salads, hot entrees, veggies, and desserts, and will have vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free options (possibly even all at once). You can now buy your banquet tickets on the FOGcon website.

Numbers will be limited, so buy soon if you know your plans.

If you have any questions about the hotel, or any special hotel needs, please email fogcon@fogcon.org so we can help you out.